How to Start Script Writing for More Professional Animated GIFs

(Last Updated On: September 5, 2019)

How to start making your animated GIF

Script writing must be an essential first part of creating your animated GIF. You might think that you can simply create the GIF in your head. Then make the video. After all, you want it to be only 10 seconds long.

That’s wrong thinking. The following is a good scope & sequence for creating your animated GIF:

Decide upon the main point you are trying to get across

Collect one or more graphics

Write your script out. It will guide you in making the right video clips. Plus it helps you remember all of the necessary features of a good animated GIF:

Obvious to viewer what animated GIF is all about

Rarely have a shot with a message less than 1 second or greater than 2

2. Add a MINIMUM amount of text

The animated GIF will be quite small. So, the text should be as large as is reasonable so that people will indeed read it. People remember pictures much better than they remember text. So, get most of your message across with the images.

3. Use Keynote to animate your text and images

Experiment with the various Build In and Action effects. Go to the bit.ly/nocostimages website, get some free images and practice making a presentation as complex as the one you see below.

Another way of adding interest to your moving text is to show an image within the letters. Learn how.

4. Record your presentation with ScreenFlow

You will be using ScreenFlow to record, edit & upload your presentation as an animated GIF. Remember to save your ScreenFlow video with a descriptive name as soon as you see it on the screen. Then you can start editing it.